That matches up to the what I reported just after lunch. I learned that the Brewers offered Burnett a two-year deal. One of my Twitter followers asked why Burnett isn’t already signed in Milwaukee if the Brewers gave him what he is seeking. I countered with the idea that they may match up on years but that doesn’t mean they match up on money just yet.

General manger Doug Melvin said late in the day that he had not yet extended any formal offers to any free agents, which could very well be true. There is a formality involved in submitting an official offer for a player to consider. What I was told was the framework exists for the offers that were passed along for Burnett and Grilli. That does not mean that they’ve been sent along to the respective players or their representatives.

Moving on, the Brewers were said to have “kicked the tires” on free agent reliever Mark Lowe, recently of the Texas Rangers. That report came from FoxSports.com’s Jon Morosi.

Melvin also told the media in his evening session that he had finally met with agent Craig Landis who represents both Ryan Dempster and Brett Myers. But while Melvin confirmed the meeting, he would not discuss what was said during the meeting. For what it’s worth, it was previously reported that Dempster has reciprocated Milwaukee’s interest but is seeking a three-year deal while the Brewers prefer to limit a deal to two years.

Also confirmed was that Melvin had briefly discussed 2012 NL Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey with the New York Mets but that they quickly realized that the teams don’t match up and therefore didn’t even advance to the point of discussing names of other players to have been involved.

Ron Roenicke was at the Opryland Hotel today and held court with the media. He also appeared on MLB Network Radio during the afternoon hours. Roenicke had a few nuggets of knowledge to share. He said that he’s considering moving Rickie Weeks back to the lead off spot in the lineup. Roenicke also suggested the while Mat Gamel won’t be playing winter ball anywhere (per Melvin), Gamel will be getting a good amount of time at the corner OF positions during spring training.

While on MLB Network Radio, Roenicke confirmed again the Brewers’ interest in Grilli “if the money works” but not at $5-$7 million. I was told that the proposed offer the Brewers were formulating was less than that for just one year, so we’ll see if that gets it done at some point.

Finally for Roenicke, he reiterated that the Brewers don’t need to get another starting pitcher, despite the stated desire to. He acknowledged that they currently already have one extra starter. He also said that Marco Estrada has a pretty good foot in the door for a spot in the rotation. That would be a field then of Yovani Gallardo, Marco Estrada, Mike Fiers, Chris Narveson, Wily Peralta and Mark Rogers.

Back to Melvin, he confirmed that they are looking for a backup shortstop option if they can find one. They still have some interest in bringing back Alex Gonzalez if he would accept a bench role.

Melvin also mentioned the names of Tom Gorzelanny and John Lannan as having been discussed. Personally, I’m hoping that they’re using the media to help Sean Burnett remember that he isn’t the only LHP available. A little posturing isn’t necessarily a bad thing, after all.

As for the money situation, Melvin confirmed that the Brewers are actually seeing a significant bump in their local TV contract revenue, but that it still pales in comparison to the money some teams are getting in their brand new local TV deals. Melvin said that they’ll go from $12 million in 2012 to right around $21 million for 2013. The oft-reported national TV money bump doesn’t begin until 2014, which is the year that has always been reported by me at least.

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So there you have it. If I remember anything else I wanted to pass along (and it feels like I”m forgetting something…) I’ll update this blog so check back periodically.

I honestly would like to see them get a starting pitcher but maybe Dempster is not the answer. I like the fact we are going after relievers. I expect the Brewers to make a couple of moves this week. Keep up the good work my friend.

Meta

2012 – #8

2011 – #64

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